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ok well me and my dad went to the pistol range the other day to try out the XD he just bought. well he let me shoot about 100 rounds through it and i noticed that my hands would shake alot and not be real steady, so it was harder to aim in on the target, now my ? here is how can i stop all the shaking....

Babysmamadrama

07-06-04, 12:13 PM

First time shooting? It's ok if it is. You may be anticipating the noise and recoil. And any gun is going to get heavy after awhile of holding straight in front of you. Did you start shaking before or after firing a hundred rounds? Because you can only shoot so many rounds before you muscles will not let you keep the type of accuracy you want.

Give yourself some time, you are just probably nervous around the weapon. Just remember good weapon safety, proper grip on the weapon, proper sight alignment, and stance. Don't inhale and hold your breath as you squeeze the trigger this will cause you to shake as well. If you have to bring the gun down to a low ready position every time after firing a round or several rounds to keep from shaking do that, you will build up the muscle memory of going into a proper shooting stance with time, as well as training your eyes and hands to line up sights and target properly.

Don't worry it will come with practice.

PiMpWiThArAnGeR

07-06-04, 12:18 PM

well its only like my third time with a pistol, but i shoot my .270 bolt rifle all the time in preperation for deer season, and i dont have that much problem until the buck fever sets in lol...
and the shaking came after about 10 rounds, and i would take breaks and stuff but i would still shake.

txinvestigator1

07-06-04, 12:20 PM

Without seeing you I would guess you are holding your breath and/or squeezing too tight in the weapon. It is important to breath normally.

PiMpWiThArAnGeR

07-06-04, 12:26 PM

^ is there nething i can do to practice not doing that???

clancy98

07-06-04, 12:31 PM

well you want your breath to be held during the shot, IMO, but check out your grip. Sounds like you may be straining your hand(s). Two-handed weaver type stance?

CLancy

txinvestigator1

07-06-04, 12:34 PM

Focus on breathing normally.

There are several elements to proper shooting;

1. Stance

2. Grip

3. Sight Alignment

4. Sight Picture

5. Trigger Control

6. Breathing

7. Follow Through

Out of those the most important and sight alignment and trigger control. FOr combat shooting slight shaking is really irrelevent as long as you focus on the front sight and properly press the trigger.

So practice focusing on the front sight, and concentrate on normal, relaxed breathing. Don't rush the shot in an attempt to have the weapon fire when you are on target. Steady pressure on the trigger until the gun goes bang. It should surprise you when it fires.

If you notice the shaking and try to rush the shot when the front sight is on target, you will jerk the trigger. If you are right handed this will most likely make your shots impact low and left. When that happens, it is not a result of shaking, but of jerking the trigger. And you don't want to be jerking off at the range. ;)

Good luck with that.

PiMpWiThArAnGeR

07-06-04, 12:40 PM

hmm cause i am right handed and all of my shots that where not in the black where low right... and i noticed that when my dad was shooting the gun would be out of bullets and he would still fire one last empty shot with the magazine back, i dont fully understand that.... what could he be doing lol.

warlock

07-06-04, 12:41 PM

Its perfectly natural.

As your shooting experience increases...and you learn to control your reflexes...they will decrease...and your accuracy will increase.

txinvestigator1

07-06-04, 12:44 PM

Low right indicates you are probably putting too much finger in the trigger and the front sight is a little low.

I am not sure what you mean by "the gun would be out of bullets and he would still fire one last empty shot with the magazine back".

PiMpWiThArAnGeR

07-06-04, 01:18 PM

like say he would load 5 into the magazine, he would fire all five then he wouldnt break position and fire a sixth shot even though there wasnt one in there to shoot.. its like he was concentrating so hard that he didnt notice he was out of ammo???

txinvestigator1

07-06-04, 01:25 PM

There was still a round in the chamber when he put 5 in the mag.

clancy98

07-06-04, 03:46 PM

clarify that for me TX. It could be that I've been misinformed. I know holding your breath can obviously break your concentration if you do it for too long, but I was always told to hold it for a second while you squeeze the trigger. This way, your chest is not heaving with your breath, thereby not causing the rest of your attached body to move with it.

greenlead

07-06-04, 04:02 PM

I, in my underexperienced opinion) would recommend that you simply adopt a relaxed and controlled breathing pattern, as holding your breath can cause more shaking.

What I like to practice is doing everything in counts of fours. Breath out four, shoot four, breath in four. Try Practicing this pattern and let me know if it helps.

gdowkpc

07-06-04, 04:42 PM

Without seeing you I would guess you are holding your breath and/or squeezing too tight in the weapon. It is important to breath normally.

The holding too tightly was my guess. Is is a fast or a slow shake? Fast shake is from too tight. A slow shake, or a slight drifting fromt he target, is a totally different game, related to breathing, stance, fatigue, and grip.

txinvestigator1

07-06-04, 04:44 PM

clarify that for me TX. It could be that I've been misinformed. I know holding your breath can obviously break your concentration if you do it for too long, but I was always told to hold it for a second while you squeeze the trigger. This way, your chest is not heaving with your breath, thereby not causing the rest of your attached body to move with it.

I am referring to handgun combat shooting only. I have no idea of what is taught for target shooting.

Most new shooters have a tendency to hold their breath. I try to have them focus on normal breathing. The slight movement of the chest will not be a factor in combat/defensive shooting.

When I train, some is done while moving. I can still shoot accurately, so a little thing like breathing should not be a problem. ;)

gdowkpc

07-06-04, 04:57 PM

You should pull the trigger at the end of your exhale. If you inhale and hold your breath, your muscles in your chest are tense. Tense muscles move more than relaxed muscles.

The military teaches this to all their M-14/16 shooters in basic.

SnowLeopard

07-06-04, 08:54 PM

and i noticed that when my dad was shooting the gun would be out of bullets and he would still fire one last empty shot with the magazine back, i dont fully understand that.... what could he be doing lol.

Ahhhh, the rebel without a cause syndrome (believe that is the movie) where the hero takes the gun from his bud, removes the mag, and thinks that is that, not realizing that there is still one in the chamber.

Essentially, to ensure that the gun is "clear", one removes or empties the magazine and then opens or clears (ie, thru firing) the action. That's a nutshell, if unclear, be sure to get someone to explain it in reality.

But........there is another possibility. My engagement drills, self run, operate on one of two possible resolutions. In the first, 31 rounds have been cycled (fired/jams cleared) and then, tension is held on target for a few seconds until, mentally, the order is given that the drill is over. One does not want to get into a trained habit that once all ammo has been fired, the alert/stance/gun is automatically dropped. Alternately, one might run such drills so that there is always one more round left in the gun, left in the drill, again to prevent a trained reaction from occurring. The drill is then secured and then, that final round is cleared thru firing.
----------------------------------------------
(Jack Deth and his female comrades are trapped in a burning barn against the Trancers. "Well, we can kill a great many of them before we go. Remember to save one round for yourself.", (w,stte), Trancers II: The Return of Jack Deth)

Moose63845

07-07-04, 12:57 AM

Ok, I shot competitively for about 6 years. And in the breath department, what you do is breath in, and than exhale until it is comfortable and then hold your breath. As soon as you hold your breath you have 8-10 seconds before your body needs oxygen and starts to shake. So take your shot within 8-10 seconds after you hold your breath. When pulling the trigger use basicaly the pad of your finger, or take the first section of your index finger and cut it in half, that is the part you want to use to pull the trigger. As far as the grip goes it isn't a death grip, so if you are holding the pistol, and it is shaking a lot, than try relaxing your grip on it. With your dad firing an empty gun, it is becuase he probably isn't counting his shots, or is used to firing more. A instructor that I know was used to bulls eye shooting, which is 5 rounds, and he fired a friends gun that was loaded with like 10. He fired 5, and put it down, becuase he was trained to shoot 5 and then he was done. You should get used to counting your shots, that way you never have an empty gun, and you can impress your police shooting instructors and FATS operators.

Jynkxxie

07-07-04, 01:02 AM

It just takes some time to get comfortable doing it. If there are certain muscles you have not used frequently in those positions yeah it can get damn tiring...along with nerves and technique.

I took my neighbor a few weeks ago to shoot her very first gun. Granted...I started her out very small....22...she was still shaking an hour later after we came home. Just takes time to get used to it. I used to do it when I started out.

Moose63845

07-07-04, 01:12 AM

One thing that will help you with the shaking that you can do at home, is get a five pound weight for a bar, you know the circular ones with the holes in the middle, and grab it in your right hand and hold it out in front of you for about 5 minutes. If that is too long just do it while watching t.v. when it goes to commercial start, when it comes back stop. You should be able to get to the point where you can hold it out there, with both hands, from the start of one commercial break to the start of the next. Granted the shake will never go away, but it will make it that much easier to control it.

txinvestigator1

07-07-04, 01:16 AM

You don't need to do the weight lifting BS to keep from shaking :rolleyes:

Don't squeeze the gun too hard and breath normally.

Moose63845

07-07-04, 01:20 AM

Well it helps out a lot, if you are doing weak hand, or bulls eye shooting. I come from a competitive background so I'm used to having to shoot one handed and bulls eye, and for that the weight thing helps out a lot.

SorryOciffer

08-27-04, 06:17 AM

Ok, I shot competitively for about 6 years. And in the breath department, what you do is breath in, and than exhale until it is comfortable and then hold your breath. As soon as you hold your breath you have 8-10 seconds before your body needs oxygen and starts to shake. So take your shot within 8-10 seconds after you hold your breath. When pulling the trigger use basicaly the pad of your finger, or take the first section of your index finger and cut it in half, that is the part you want to use to pull the trigger. As far as the grip goes it isn't a death grip, so if you are holding the pistol, and it is shaking a lot, than try relaxing your grip on it. With your dad firing an empty gun, it is becuase he probably isn't counting his shots, or is used to firing more. A instructor that I know was used to bulls eye shooting, which is 5 rounds, and he fired a friends gun that was loaded with like 10. He fired 5, and put it down, becuase he was trained to shoot 5 and then he was done. You should get used to counting your shots, that way you never have an empty gun, and you can impress your police shooting instructors and FATS operators.

What he said, except for counting shots. May be easy on the range but while under stress that can get you in trouble if your not concentrating on the situation at hand. Try to be more situationally aware of where the slide is (locked back?) and the differant feel/sound of a gun that just hit empty. I still, am not convinced of the tactical superiority of "tacticle reloads" but that is another thread for the future.

In a high stress environment, proper grip and trigger control are more important than breath control, at least with direct face to face encounters.

S.O.

goldstargirl

08-28-04, 05:47 PM

ok well me and my dad went to the pistol range the other day to try out the XD he just bought. well he let me shoot about 100 rounds through it and i noticed that my hands would shake alot and not be real steady, so it was harder to aim in on the target, now my ? here is how can i stop all the shaking....

I had this same problem when I started shooting. The shaking is from anticipation of the bang, as with the gnashing of the trigger which is causing you to pull right.
You need to have someone with you, hand them your gun and have them load it so that it will either fire a bullet or not (one or none in the chamber). You will not know if it is going to bang. My bet is that you will do some serious gnashing and laugh at yourself as I did at myself.
Breathing is important, with your gun up on target breath in and out..I was trained to shot on the breath out unlike another poster who said to hold your breath. Try both and see which one works for you.

Leonidas

08-28-04, 08:07 PM

Beyond things that are immediatley apparent, consider your diet. have you eaten before shooting? Are you fatigued or have you been drinking a caffeinated beverage? All of these factors can be significant.